Semua Bab BOUND TO THE CRIPPLED CEO : Bab 81 - Bab 90

IVANDays crawled by and a lot of mine was spent at the office and hospital where Valerie was registered.Today, my office smelled faintly of ink, coffee, and exhaustion. I leaned back in my chair, loosening the knot of my tie, eyes fixed on the polished mahogany desk where a scattering of untouched documents still sat.I rubbed the bridge of my nose. My temples throbbed, but it wasn’t from negotiations. It was from the incessant buzzing of my phone since this morning.I finally glanced at it. Fifteen missed calls. Pete. My mother. My father. And a few numbers I didn’t recognize.My gut tightened. Calls in that succession never meant anything good.The phone vibrated again across the table, Pete’s name flashing in bold letters.I exhaled sharply and picked it up. “What is it, Pete? This had better be important.”On the other end, Pete’s voice was taut, hurried. “Ivan, where the hell are you? You’ve been ignoring my calls.”“I was in a meeting.” My voice was professional, but his urgen

DANICAIvan’s name glared at me from the glowing screen, bold and merciless, as though daring me to answer. My thumb hovered, frozen between flight and surrender. Every nerve in me screamed don’t pick up, yet something heavier pressed down because ignoring him wasn’t really an option. It never had been.Finally, with a shaky breath, I slid my thumb across.“Ivan,” I said, my voice low, barely above a whisper.For a moment, nothing, just silence thick enough to make my chest tighten. Then his voice cut through, sharp and metallic, like a blade being drawn.“Did you do it?”The question slammed into me before I could even say hello. My stomach lurched.“Do… what?” I asked cautiously, though my pulse already knew what he meant.His voice dropped, cold and certain. “Don’t play games with me, Danica. Did you leak it? Did you tell anyone about our arrangement?”My heart kicked painfully against my ribs. Leak it? My throat burned at the accusation. I gripped the phone so tightly my knuckles

IVANHospitals had a way of stripping a man bare.The sharp antiseptic smell, from rooms I passed, the whispers of nurses gliding down whitewashed halls— it all clawed at me. I hated places like this. They made even the most powerful look mortal. And in my world, mortality was a weakness.But today, I had no choice.Danica was here. My son was here, together with his sister. And so was the problem that could burn everything down.When I reached Valerie’s ward, I found her room dimly lit, quiet. She was sleeping, her chest rising and falling with a fragile rhythm. Danica wasn’t beside her.A soft sound from across the room caught my attention. In the corner, curled up with a children’s book too big for his hands, sat little Ivan. My son.And just beside him— Danica.She looked up as soon as I entered. Her eyes were wary, guarded, the faint shadows beneath them betraying exhaustion. Her hand instinctively rested on our son’s shoulder, as though shielding him from me.“What are you doing

DANICAThe moment we stepped out of the conference room, the flashes exploded again. Cameras, phones, the ceaseless drone of voices— hungry for another angle, another photograph. My cheeks ached from smiling, and my jaw burned from clenching behind it, but I kept the performance alive.Ivan’s hand rested lightly at my back as we walked, his touch careful but firm, guiding me through the wall of flashing lights. And then, just as one overeager reporter leaned forward, his voice piercing through the swarm, Ivan leaned in closer and whispered something only I could hear.“You played your part perfectly.”The words startled a laugh out of me, surprisingly it was real, though I tried to mask it as polite for the cameras. Ivan chuckled too, low and husky, and for a fleeting second, it felt… natural. As though the laughter had been ours all along, not borrowed for the sake of optics.And then he did something that froze me in place. He bent, almost imperceptibly, and pressed a kiss to my for

I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Ivan's copy of the contract was what had led us to this point.My fingers brushed over the scattered contents of the drawer, rifling through it. Just maybe it was still there somewhere.And then I froze.The metallic golden case. An exact replica of the one in my room. What in hell was it doing in Ivan's room?“What is this?” I whispered, turning round to face him as I lifted the object up.He looked at me quizzically before responding. “Oh, that! It was gifted to me. Two of them, but someone… a woman was foolish or maybe smart enough to run away with one.”His words made my heartbeat drum in my ears.“Ivan—” my voice cracked, “Why is this here, Ivan?” I was trembling now.“Because I just told you it's mine. Where else would my property be?” The quizzical look was back on his face now.“Oh my goodness!” My mind was running wild. I must be in some kind of dream right now.“Are you okay?” Ivan asked. “You look like you just escaped from a nig